Snow
by katkah
Summary: Once bitter enemies, now companions on the way... Amalthea and Red Bull. with references to the book, not a oneshot anymore! rating may change
1. Snow

Snow.  
Everything he saw around was snow. Everything was white and cold, nothing comfortable, but it looked as if angel feathers were falling from the sky. He could stare at them forever, though he feared them. He actually didn't have any reason to fear and he told that to himself every second, but still... all alone, and nothing around, just snow...  
Something moved a few steps from him. He twitched, but saw nothing around.  
Or maybe...?  
,,Is that you?´´ he asked carefully.  
A shadow was coming from the snow. It looked, as if it formed right from the air, because it was so white, just like the snow and it was a tall, graceful figure, like a deer, but much more beautiful.  
,,I told you to wait in front of the forest.´´  
It was someone he was waiting for here, he recognized that voice at that moment. He listened to it many times, heard her talking in the past and sometimes singing,though just sorrowful songs, about what she knew but forgot. Heard her snorted, when she was angry, and heard her shriek (he grinned,when he remembered), when he appeared in her forest long ago.  
She was worried, but seemed relieved now.  
,,Sorry. I wanted to watch the snowing.´´  
A soft thing nuzzled his cheek.  
,,And you like snow since...?´' she asked a little playfully.  
,,I just like to watch it, okay?´´ he softly pushed her nose away. ,,Where were you anywais?´´  
,,Oh... well... I looked for a place to stay during night.´´  
,,It´s already dark...´´  
,,Yes.´´  
,,Have you found something?´´  
,,No.´´  
,,You are not very talkative today, are you?´´  
,,I never was,´´ she smiled and poked him with something long and white.  
He frightened almost to death. He jumped away from it and all shivered.  
,,Don´t do that. I´m afraid of that thing.´´  
,,I know,´´ she said. She made a puzzled horse face. ,,You always was. Even before we met.´´  
,,Yes, but you was the first who found out.´´  
He still remembered their first meeting, as if it was yesterday. A numb mind, when he was going out of his dungeon, a surprise and shock, when the soft, sweet, magic horse scent hit him, and the joy and waking of a hunter instinct, when he saw a white mare lying on the ground, sleeping. He thought it was the best of his long life to finally find the last of them. It was just like the other ones, so cold, so innocent and so easy to catch...  
And he still remembered, when it suddenly disappeared. He stopped,all confused, looked around, but haven´t seen it anywhere, so he returned to his cave.  
Later in his dungeon he heard voices in sleep. They sounded familiar. A woman, a magician,and a new one, seemed a girl, but he never heard anything like this one before. It haven´t talked much. Once a day, maybe twice.  
And then, again in his cave, when he was just waking, he smelt it again. A unicorn.  
But it was so weak he almost thought it was a dream, but it was there and soon enough he saw what wasn´t a human, but not a unicorn either. It really puzzled him, what it actually was, and wanted to take a closer look at it (and maybe taste it too?).  
And then it turned on all of it´s glory to a unicorn again. And he had another one to hunt again.  
He realized it was somehow different, but he didn´t knew how actually. Yup,it was a unicorn,but...?  
And soon enough, when it was almost in the sea, he discovered,that killing the prince was the biggest mistake in his life. Cause it fought back.  
He never told to anyone, but he was afraid of them. He scared the unicorns, hunted them, killed some of them, but was afraid of them. Well, mostly of their horns. It was so much magic and light, that he could never handle them, so he chose the sea before them.

But who would listen to him? Who wouldn't be afraid of fire?

He was a fiery creature, but inside, he was cold as ice because of the loneliness.  
First of all he felt cold, the sea filled with unicorn magic and silence. Silence everywhere...  
He came out much weaker, much less hot, and much less a hunter.  
He wandered the world, everyone feared him and nobody wanted him near. He haven´t stopped, haven´t slept, haven´t eaten anything, and yet haven´t died.  
Well,not by himself. Every time he got near a unicorn forest,a unicorn was there and literally kicked him out. They wasn´t afraid anymore, because every single one of them knew they had a powerful weapon against him.  
Once he got in front of a different forest. First he thought that it was a normal one, because it was autumn there. In unicorn forests there was always spring.  
Inside there was a lake, where he stopped for a while. A small one, peaceful, with cherry blossoms and willows around.  
And then he heard a horse scream. He looked up to a white mare, shocked, looked as if she couldn´t believe what she saw.  
He was quite surprised, because other unicorn would look at him scornfully and poke him out with his horn. And cover his footprints.  
,,Red Bull?´´she asked. ,,You changed so much.´´  
And in that moment he knew, who it was. The only unicorn, who ever felt regret, and the first one who ever fought against him. And the only one with a name.  
Lady Amalthea.  
In the first moment he thought,that she would kill him at that place. But she came to him,sniffed him and told:  
,,I should kill you. But I feel regret for what happened to you.´´  
So he stayed there.  
After some time they got used to each other. They met everyday, talked a bit, and although he didn´t admit to himself, he liked her presence. She wasn't afraid, but didn't despise him like the others of her kind. She let him sit beside, when she drank water and lately she even let him sleep beside her. And after another time she came to him by herself, asked him questions just to make him talk and listened, lying on the ground with big eyes. She seemed as a kid listening to a fairytale then. She liked anything: but mostly stories about humans.  
Humans were the ones who forced them to go out of their (_her_,he corrected himself) forest.  
One day a strange sound came to them early in the morning. They knew the world changed much since they met,but they never dreamed this could happen. All the trees were gone, animals frightened running away and they ran away as well.  
First Amalthea couldn´t stop sniffing, as they walked and kept saying, that it was her only home for millenniums. He told to her, that maybe they can find another home. Or just travel.  
Since then it was like this.  
,,I already said I´m sorry,´´she said sadly. ,,How long will you be mad for it?´´  
He sighed.  
,,I´m not mad at you. Just...don´t poke me with your horn.´´  
,,Okay. Let´s go already... before some people appear here.´´  
,,Yeah, it´s a crazy age. By day nothing, and when it gets dark, they are everywhere. Understand this?´´  
,,No, and I bet I never will,´´she laughed. Then she looked at him seriously.  
,,Aren´t you tired? We walked all day.´´  
,,No.´´  
,,Um, Flame?´´  
Flame was a nickname she thought up, when he was in her forest about a week. She told him that she was tired of calling him Bull, because this name brought memories. He agreed.  
,,Yes?´´  
,,You really don´t want to go on my back?´´  
,,I thought,that you hated it,´´ he grinned a little.  
,,I thought,that you liked it,´´ she winked.  
,,Okay, you won, I do. But no, not really. I´m not tired.´´  
They remained in silence for a few minutes and just walked.  
,,Is this snow everywhere?´´ he asked.  
,,Yes, it is. Still don´t like it, do you?´´  
,,I don´t like water. Especially not cold and so much...´´  
,,Well, me neither. It reminds me of the sea,´´she said.  
Suddenly he poked her with his head.  
,,What was this?´´  
,,This was to remind you, that you should have been in the sea too,´´ he answered a little angry, because she talked about the sea with so careless style.  
She said nothing, just ran a few meters forward with her head down.  
At that moment he got it.  
,,AMALTHEA! Hey! Wait, sorry!´´  
She stopped and waited, but still no answer.  
,,Sorry,´´she said again, all ashamed.  
,,Don´t remind me of that.´´  
,,You...still regret,don´t you?´´  
,,I do. But I see you have no regret,´´she said sarcastically.  
,,I can never regret,´´ he said carefully.  
Amalthea grinned and laughed for herself,then jumped a step forward.  
,,Cause I´m with you,you silly,´´ he said with a smile and poked her side.  
,,Okay,´´she smiled and poked back.


	2. Weeping

She wept at night.

It didn't happen much before, only once or twice, but when she wept it made everyone freeze.

The first time she did this, which was still in her forest late at night, everything stayed quiet. There was such silence it was almost unbearable, for a unicorn weeping was a very rare sight – the animals here never saw it before, not even their parents and grandparents and previous generations.

When a unicorn wept the spring melted away into winter-ish atmosphere, though her surroundings stayed much the same.

But she had wept. It made the pool salty for a while and the willows cry with her, not knowing why but knowing there was something so very wrong with their keeper, friend, protector, their forest's pride, their _unicorn_. Something mortally wrong.

The crying was without tears, but it echoed through the whole forest. It made stir even the one not much awake yet from his deep slumber.

Back then it _so_ reminded him of past home… the sound of his hunt, the moment when a unicorn went into the sea, they made a sound similar. For a brief moment a feeling washed over him – again a ancient, flaming and feared night hunter, the Red Bull in all his glory and power, burning everything within a mile if he wanted, pushing those sweet things forward with horns as red-hot iron – then it was gone, and he felt at a loss. The more so because he remembered all those feelings and the weeping was still there, present in the whole forest, a reminder of his old ways.

But then as it started it was over and the unicorn sang –

,,_And I would run away and beg from door to door, _

_just to see your shadow once, and never more…_''

It was a soft and emotionless voice, but for some reason it felt childlish and lonely.

He didn't know, what do do with a weeping unicorn (he doubted _anyone_ knew at all), he only had a uncertain feeling that she did not wish to hear ,Amalthea' today.

But that was in her forest, springtime, and it was afternoon. Plus, they were both on different sides of the forest.

It was a entirely different thing with her weeping down into the snow, late night, in the middle of nowhere where nobody found home but snowflakes and frost.

It wasn't much of a shelter, but it was a dry spot which he left for the unicorn to lie at.

The sniffing woke him up. It always did. It wasn't the heart-breaking cries from before, but it was crying nevertheless.

Even with him carefully sitting up she didn't even move, only made low sounds.

,,Are you crying again?'' he asked monotonely.

Making no sound, she curled up more.

For a while he only looked on her still form, white as the snow, not doing anything.

,,_Sparrows and cats will live in my shoe,_

_sooner than I will live with you._

_Fish will come walking out of the sea,_

_Sooner than you will come back to me…_''

She sang. He exhaled, knowing the worst was over.

,,Are you okay?'' he asked quietly, leaning above her.

She snorted, horse-like.

,,I'm cold,'' she said.

,,You know that's not what I'm asking,'' he raised a eyebrow.

She stayed silent.

,,Is it dawn yet?'' she then lifted head to look.

,,No. It's the middle of the night. Why aren't you sleeping?''

,,I'm cold,'' she repeated. ,,I can't sleep.''

,,Ow. Cold? How come? I thought you traveled to the end of the earth, to the sea, through winter too,'' he teased.

,,Indeed, but I slept on better places,'' she held up chin higher, which made her look a bit like a stubborn foal.

All fine.

,,There I go warming you up and I even let you sleep on the dry spot… you're so spoiled, horse.''

,,I expected it,'' she answered, ignoring the horse remark.

He snorted too then, much like a bull would. The unicorn half expected smoke would come out from him, but nothing happened.

,,Don't next time. You're going to stand out in the snow while _I_ sleep.''

,,You wouldn't let me?'' she asked playfully.

,,Oh I would, you bet I would.''

If it was arguing that would make her feel better, then he would. It wasn't much walking beside a grumpy unicorn, it made mad atmosphere anywhere they went.

When she was in a good mood, she was quiet. She only commented peacefully, looking mostly around her, inner smile and curiosity on in her wide eyes.

When she was in a bad mood, she either went for a run, head down walked or was only generally restless… but when she was _miserable_, like after crying or right before, she was a hell to live with. He never knew unicorns could be so picky, playful, teasing and overally annoying to the point he wanted to kick her into the nearest water they went by just to shut her up.

He never did, though. He wouldn't regret it – afterall, he never could regret – and neither would he be as lonely, but he would be utterly bored by all the humans. She was a amusing and interesting creature even if she got unnaturally friendly and sarcastic to his answers when she wanted him to cheer her up.

Even when being the one responsible for…all.


End file.
